how to empty trash with 2000 posts at once?

Please backup before running the query, i’ll not take responsibility if something goes wrong as a result..

DELETE p
FROM wp_posts p
LEFT OUTER JOIN wp_postmeta pm ON (p.ID = pm.post_id)
WHERE post_status = 'trash'

Join is optional, removes entries from the meta table (if they exist).

Tested under MySQL 5.1 in Phpmyadmin.

I’m also interested in emptying the trash. Before I try this query, I just want to confirm that it is designed to ONLY delete items with a post_status of “trash.”

This might be a dumb question, but my knowledge of MySQL is just enough to make me dangerous.

And can I assume that the above query can be copied and pasted as is into the correct database query form?

Yes, I WILL back up before attempting. But I don’t want any surprises that occur as a result of my ignorance.

Thanks.

Nevermind. I couldn’t wait and tried it anyway. It worked just as I hoped: it deleted all the posts in the Trash.

Thanks!